Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Does anybody know the exact month and date the flight took place (summer obviously), and if a flight plan is available for this northerly, almost polar, route?

I found one May last year but of course flying it today in different conditions you could build a plan on pfpx or simbrief better. pfpx gives you close to real plans if you exclude airspace for Ukraine and China in the create a route section.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

I'm flying a VATroute flight at the moment, but it doesn't get light until several hours into the flight.

I want to replicate the flight under the same conditions. In the video the Captain says that the flight follows the sun; and, I think, about 2-3 hours into the flight it's bright sunshine which a flight close to the north pole in summer would have. I want to check this out.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

The Captain is wrong. EDDF-RJAA is eastbound. The sun is westbound. I have flown this route many times using TOBA6G TOBAK N858 ERSIL UN858 ESOBU UN746 BINKA N746 KOKAT R355 NRM A333 IGROD Y301 SHELY Y30 SWAMP SWAMPN. Depart Frankfurt in darkness about 4:00AM local time. Then daylight until about 3 hours from Narita. Then darkness.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

The cargo doors closed at 20:20 UTC and they did a TOBAK 9D departure from Rwy 07C. The captain didn't say they were following the sun; he was commenting on the fact that, even though they left EDDF after sunset, they were back into sunshine again after 2 hrs 30 mins. because they were flying so far north.

It reminded me of the time I flew from New York to Seoul via Anchorage in 1983. We left New York at midnight and, when we landed at Anchorage, dawn was breaking but when we took off and headed south west to Seoul, we went back into darkness and I think we didn't see daylight again until about an hour or two from Seoul.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

It reminded me of the time I flew from New York to Seoul via Anchorage in 1983. We left New York at midnight and, when we landed at Anchorage, dawn was breaking but when we took off and headed south west to Seoul, we went back into darkness and I think we didn't see daylight again until about an hour or two from Seoul.

Not quite the same, but I flew from Salt Lake City to Anchorage in 2007, departing out of Salt Lake City at 21:30 PM, when it was almost completely dark. By the time we got to Anchorage at 23:52 PM, the sun was only just setting. The next morning, when I looked outside, I thought it was past 10:00 AM. It was only roughly 05:00 AM.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

The cargo doors closed at 20:20 UTC and they did a TOBAK 9D departure from Rwy 07C. The captain didn't say they were following the sun; he was commenting on the fact that, even though they left EDDF after sunset, they were back into sunshine again after 2 hrs 30 mins. because they were flying so far north.

Thank you all.

I agree, the time on the stand was 20.20 UTC and it was still light, which I am guessing would be around late August in Frankfurt. In the northern hemisphere in summer it would stay light the further the flight was to the north pole; and when the flight landed in Narita it was still light.

Qn. Which flight route will replicate this more closely - 777200lrf's or pcubine's.

This is the flight I want to set up.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Did you try working it out from the chart shown at 4mins 20secs in the video? I could see waypoints GONKA, LUSIP, RIMAG and TANAM and I think you could probably identify one or two more and create a realistic route.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

The route I posted is pretty close to a great circle route. I believe the northern most waypoint is 6830N.

Thanks, Michael. Flew your route yesterday, my first 10+ hour 77F trip. Set FSX to late August and departed EDDF 07C ~1849z during what Cpt. Rick from the video called "the golden hour." Payload was as described in the video and ASN had control of weather. The climb out was spectacularly beautiful.

Shortly afterwards I was flying in total darkness, but about 3 hours later the sun began peeking over the horizon. An hour or so afterward I was in full daylight. With a 50+ kt tail at FL350 most of the way I arrived RJAA 0506z on ILSZ 16R, 10h17m trip time - a bit shorter than the LH crew's flight because I took a couple of shortcuts on the arrival.

It was a great experience and lots of fun more or less duplicating the flight in this excellent video. Thanks also to Wing Lai for the link.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

as you are arriving, and en route you may find stations to listen in, I like hearing real atc and following the flights live if I can. rjaa recently added full coverage. The GEC flight I believe carries on to rksi then back to Frankfurt. - David Lee

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Thanks, Michael. Flew your route yesterday, my first 10+ hour 77F trip. Set FSX to late August and departed EDDF 07C ~1849z during what Cpt. Rick from the video called "the golden hour." Payload was as described in the video and ASN had control of weather. The climb out was spectacularly beautiful.

Shortly afterwards I was flying in total darkness, but about 3 hours later the sun began peeking over the horizon. An hour or so afterward I was in full daylight. With a 50+ kt tail at FL350 most of the way I arrived RJAA 0506z on ILSZ 16R, 10h17m trip time - a bit shorter than the LH crew's flight because I took a couple of shortcuts on the arrival.

It was a great experience and lots of fun more or less duplicating the flight in this excellent video. Thanks also to Wing Lai for the link.

I'm 2hrs 30 mins into this same flight now, which is when Captain Rick is speaking in bright sunshine. I set the date of the flight at 22nd August 2017 in ASN. So far It's still dark but I suspect given +/- an hour or so it will get light. I agree that the climb out is spectacular.

One aspect I have noted about this route is that tracks just to the south of St Petersburg (ULLI), but in the video he says that the route is to the north, which suggests to me that the route is slightly further north to the pole.

On 05/11/2017 at 7:48 PM, dmwalker said:

Did you try working it out from the chart shown at 4mins 20secs in the video? I could see waypoints GONKA, LUSIP, RIMAG and TANAM and I think you could probably identify one or two more and create a realistic route.

This is the route they took which I am guessing is the more northerly route and will break into bright sunshine after about 2.5 hours. I can't quite decipher the other way points in the plan but intend to fly this later with the same set up and a TOBA9D departure. They programmed a R/W 34 L/R arrival but ATC cleared them to 16R.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

I'm 2hrs 30 mins into this same flight now, which is when Captain Rick is speaking in bright sunshine. I set the date of the flight at 22nd August 2017 in ASN. So far It's still dark but I suspect given +/- an hour or so it will get light.

Looking more closely at the chart in the video at 04:20, I think I see "27 June 2017." Is that the actual date of the flight? If so, besides their more northerly route, would this further explain why the crew was in full sunshine after just 2.5 hours into the flight?

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Looking more closely at the chart in the video at 04:20, I think I see "27 June 2017." Is that the actual date of the flight? If so, besides their more northerly route, would this further explain why the crew was in full sunshine after just 2.5 hours into the flight?

If this was the actual time of the flight it would definitely explain why full sunshine occurred early in the flight. 21st June is mid summer's day in the northern hemisphere with the most hours of daylight.

In the video the time displayed on the stand (F233) is showing 20.20 UTC and it appears to be just dropping dusk. I looked up on the internet what date did sunset occur at 20.20 in Frankfurt and it gave 22nd August. So the 27 June date on the chart may just be the date the flight plan was drawn up.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

If this was the actual time of the flight it would definitely explain why full sunshine occurred early in the flight. 21st June is mid summer's day in the northern hemisphere with the most hours of daylight.

In the video the time displayed on the stand (F233) is showing 20.20 UTC and it appears to be just dropping dusk. I looked up on the internet what date did sunset occur at 20.20 in Frankfurt and it gave 22nd August. So the 27 June date on the chart may just be the date the flight plan was drawn up.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

I was just checking Flightradar24 and it shows LH8386 departing on June 27 as D-ALFD and flying a more southerly route.

D-ALFA departed on June 26 at 10:29 pm local time and arrived at Narita at 4:12 pm local time. It reached an altitude of 37,000 ft.

Dugald, Thanks for this. I'm pretty sure the aircraft in the video is D-ALFA because during the exterior inspection "FA" is visible on the front gear door at 09:38. But the departure and arrival times for 26 June don't match those in the video. If I really strain my eyes again to determine the date on the chart in the video it might be 23 June 2017. Could you maybe check the aircraft assignment and the route in FlightRadar24 for that date? Thanks a lot.

AVSIM is a free service to the flight simulation community. AVSIM is staffed completely by volunteers and all funds donated to AVSIM go directly back to supporting the community. Your donation here helps to pay our bandwidth costs, emergency funding, and other general costs that crop up from time to time. Thank you for your support!

Donation Goals

AVSIM's 2018 Fundraising Goal

Donate to our annual general fund. This donation keeps our doors open and providing you service 24 x 7 x 365. Your donation here helps to pay our bandwidth costs, emergency funding, and other general costs that crop up from time to time. We reset this goal every new year for the following year's goal.